
Class 



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Book.B4 ^in .4 

CjDFMRIGHT DEPOSITi 



A MESSAGE 



A Message 



VERSE 



By 



MARIE MALMQUIST 



BOSTON 
THE ROXBURGH PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. 






Copyrighted, 1919 

>By Marie Malmquist 

Rights Reserved 



AUG I I jbid 

IC1.A529539 



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DEDICATION. 
Dedicated to Humanity at large. 

M. MALMQUIST. 



A message is entrusted to my care, — 
A simple one, as beautiful as rare. 
Twas given me, to flowery rhyme inclined, 
The same in thought though different in kind. 
I know not how it came. I give it — 
Just as it is 'twas given me to give it. 
I know not how! I only know it came. 
I send it to you in The Sender's Name! 



CONTENTS 



Dedication 

A Message (Preface) 

The Little Lad of Nazareth 15 

His Youth 14 

His Manhood 15 

His Message 16 

I Find Him Truer Than His Word .... 17 

He Knows Your Need, Dear Heart .... 18 

You Cannot Conquer Love 19 

Can You Wonder at the Joy Which 

Fills My Heart? 20 

His Patience Knew No Bounds 21 

Love's Gift 22 

Simply Happy 23 

Love 24 

Faith 25 

Daily Service 26 

Song 2^ 

Arrows 28 

Hope 29 

Charity 30 

Drillers of Wells 31 

Wheels Within Wheels 33 

.Billows of Rest 35 

A Message 36 

Salvation 37 

In Flight 39 



10 CX)NTENTS 

Thoughts 42 

Widening Circles 43 

Ruth 44 

Error 49 

Never Fear, We Are Near 50 

Wedding Poem 51 

You and I 53 

Hymnal 55 

The Waterlily 56 

First Copy 58 

Morning Worship in a Country Church 59 

A Melody 62 

The Fir Tree 63 

An Explorer 65 

Love Lore 67 

Work 68 

Bubbles 69 

Farther Lights 70 

Trench Tractors 71 

The Seed 72 

Womanhood 72 

A Frown and a Smile 'J2> 

Progress 74 

Other Gods 75 

The Reason Why jy 

Time 78 

My Telescope 80 

A Dream 81 

Humanity 83 

Love's Dignity 83 

The Pine 84 

A Touch 85 



CONTENTS 11 

Two Tasks 35 

The Moon and the Star 88 

A Messenger no 

The Songster oi 

At Sunrise 0-5 

Mother's Day ' 94 

Flames That Are Now Are Low 95 

The Present Trouble Will Not Long En- 



dure 



9/ 



*? 



Soon Dawns The Day 98 

Love Led The Way 99 

Calvary 100 

Why Need He Suffer More ? 101 

Redeeming Love 102 

Just Think, If You Would Yield 103 

He Leads Me Still 104 

Lift Me Higher 105 

Resurrection 106 

Learn Ye to Love 107 

The Whole Day Due Tomorrow 108 

Sunset Lane 109 

The Portals of My Heart no 

Death in the Hamlet in 

At the Gate m 

Mount Olivet 112 

Dost Fear to Pray ? 113 

Lillies of Galilee 114 

The Teardrop at the Cross 115 

He Rode With Kings 116 

Nature's Darling 117 



'EJe fLittlt Eati ot ij^aiaretfi. 

Among the fields of Nazareth 

A slender lad we see, 
Who, in the winding woodland path, 

Makes friend of bird and bee. 

He loves the flowers of the field, 
He loves the summer sky; 

He loves the insect's glittering shield, 
The brooklet running by. 

But most of all He loves His kind, 
The people of the town, — 

The halt, the lame, the sick, the blind 
That He has always known. 

He loves them with a lasting love, 

This little lad of ours, 
Who, loving Nature, loves to rove 

Among the birds and flowers. 



14 A MESSAGE 



The lover of the lily then 

Became a manly youth ; 
A lover of His fellow men, 

A seeker after Truth. 

With reverence for Nature's Law, 

And for the Law Divine 
In Nature. Nature's God He saw, — 

God in the Law Divine. 

He shared the sordid daily life, 

Its stinging poverty, 
With loyal heart and meekness rare, 

And sweet humility. 

In all His works, in all His ways 

He did His Father's will : 
With loving loyalty and grace 

Went forth his place to f^ll. 



A MESSAGE 15 



Whence came His purity of love? 

Come, tell me if you can ! 
His heritage from realms above — 

This God and perfect Man. 

Must earth and Heaven silent be? 

Who will the truth proclaim? 
"My own Beloved Son is He, 

Redeemer is His name." 

The Father's Life, The Father's Word 

And faithful image He, 
Who bore the sins of all the world, — 

Oh Calvary ! Oh Calvary ! 

His tender Love, His deathless Love 

Is our Redeemer's fame; 
All in this world and Heaven above 

Shall praise His Holy Name. 



16 A MESSAGE 



Can mortal ever sense a part 

The smallest ray or less 
Of such a love as fills His heart — 

Its intense tenderness? 

There never was, there never will 

Be such a Love as His ! 
How can you, mortal, fail to thrill 

At tenderness like this? 

The woman at the wayside well 
Felt something of its power; 

And mark! this secret I must tell: 
'Tis All power from this hour. 



A MESSAGE 17 



I find Him truer than His word, 

This Saviour that I love; 
And you and I can not afford 

To doubt this word above 

All other words for wealth 

Of never-failing truth ; 
Of age the never-failing health, 

The strengthener of youth. 

His word is true ; as true as steel ! 

But He is truer still. 
We may through unseen cables feel 

A tenderness to thrill 

The hardest heart that ever beat 

Within the human breast. 
Come halfway and that Saviour meet, 

And trust Him for the rest. 



18 A MESSAGE 



l^e Ixnoto0 gout iBlteD, SDear ^tatU 

Dear heart ! What depths of shame and woe 

and sorrow 
You spare yourself if you before tomorrow 
Accept the gift above all gifts most dear, — 
He'll do the rest, tired mortal, do not fear! 

Accept the Love He offers you with feeling 
Of greatest joy, and Soul, — accept it kneeling! 
Look at them well. His torn hands, while you 

kneel; 
Don't shrink from them — You would not let 

them heal. 

Look at His feet, His side, this Man of 

Sorrow ! 
Accept the gift — don't wait until tomorrow. 
Of Earth's Gethsemane He knows each part — 
He knows as well your every need, Dear 

Heart ! 



A MESSAGE 19 



^o\x Cannot Conquer JLott^ 

Must all His love, that boundless Love, be lost 
To you and me, at v^hat terrific cost 
He only knows, who bids the waves be still, 
And stops earth's thunder by His gentle wilK 

His message now is speeding on its way; 
Its mighty import mortals may not stay. 
Love conquers All, — you cannot conquer Love 
Deep as the seas, and high as Heav'n above. 

Deep as the ocean is that Love so free ; 

It conquers all things for it conquered me. 

And know this truth, high as the Heav'ns 

above : — 
Love conquers you ! You cannot conquer 

Love! 



.•^0 A MJuSSAGE 



Can Won ^ontiet at tje 30? llSal $ni& 

Can you wonder at the joy that fills my heart 
■When I feel His glorious Love within me 
start ? 
Not in any least degree 
Of that Love that's part of me 
Must I lose or underestimate the worth. 

For the Saviour who was dead and rose again 

Has control of all my heart, and will remain 

King of heart and soul and mind, 

And with wonder I still find 

That His deathless Love grows dearer day by 

day. 
So that Love I sing to valley, hill and dale— 
To the birds and bees and flowers I tell the 
tale! 
And I tell it to you all, 
To you sinners great and small, — 
To the Sun and Moon and Stars and Heav'n 
and All. 



A MESSAGE 2l! 



1(0 patience l^neto Bo T5ounri0. 

When tired of all that barred my Heav'nward 

way, 
Of all the things that bade my footsteps stray 
I trod, in helpessness, forbidden ground 
His tender, loving patience knew no bounds. 

And since His patience never yet gave way 
I trust His love that never turned away 
One single erring, longing, thirsting soul 
To lead me with that patience to my goal. 

Nor care I what my fate be here below, 
My home is Heaven, to that goal I go. 
'Tis easy now to shun forbidden grounds — 
His tender, loving patience knew no bounds.. 



22 A MESSAGE 



ILoW^ (3itt 

Love gave me life! There is no sweeter, 

dearer ; 
Love gave me light! There is no brighter, 

clearer. 
But of what use would blinded vision be? 
So it is well His face I cannot see. 

I know He's near, I feel His presence ever; 

My love is mine, and I am His forever. 

But earthly sounds have dulled my mortal 

ear — 
And it is well His voice I may not hear. 

But when my spirit knows no earthly fetter 
And I shall know my Dear Redeemer better — 
Then men and angels join with me to sing, 
And through Eternity His praise shall ring. 



A MESSAGE 23 



Simply happy is my sweetest song; 
Simply happy as the day is long. 
Happy when at home and happy when away, 
Happy at my work, for then it seems but play ! 
Simply happy, sweetly happy all day long. 

Simply happy ! My eternal song ; 

Simply happy as the day is long. 

Happy when in sorrow, happy still in death, 

Happy with each dear delightful fleeting 

breath — 
Happiness is indeed Heaven all day long. 

Simply happy in my Saviour's love — 

Hear it sweetly echoed from the realms above. 

Happy in this knowledge : — He has set me 

free! 
Free to love Him dearly and right royally; 
Love Him from my very- inmost heart. 



24 A MESSAGE 



The song the morning stars 
First sang in Paradise, 

When, at its birth, the bars 
That shut out human eyes 

Were lowered, is the light 
That found its way to earth ; 

And guide it as we might, 
'Twill always trace its birth. 

We but suppress its song 
WTien we to mortal sight 

Adjust, and focus wrong 
Its rays of glorious light. 



A MESSAGE 25 



Win some one now for Jesus, 
And sing to him of faith ; — 

A loving, tender Jesus, 
A never ending Faith. 

Some one who doubts and fahers, 
And stumbles on alone; 

Our faith, as living altars, 

Lends to our Saviour's Throne 

A sweeter, nearer pathway 

\\'ith Him as friend and guide, 

And over trail and highway 
He's ever by our side. 

And we may find Life's Fountain 
When trust is in our heart; 

It turns to hill each mountain 
When He becomes a part 

Of every sweet emotion 

In Nature's every art! 
His Throne our hearts' devotion, 

As we are in His Heart 



26 A MESSAGE 



Sing every day of your own desire, 
For something is lifting you out of the mire 
Of all that may hinder you in your song: — 
Love Him and live for Him all day long. 

Sing of His love in your own sweet way ; 
Love Him and hve for Him day by day. 
No other meaning may now be true — 
All that you sing must be all of you. 

All of your being and all of your heart, 
And of your nature He must be a part ; 
Then for your own soul have no other fear 
Than just this one that to Him you are dear. 

Softly and gently and tenderly reared 
You as His daughter will be more endeared 
By your sweet willingness never to stray 
Far from His own will. Just love and obey. 



A MESSAGE 27 



Anchored in Jesus I trust in His love, 

And wait for a Peace to come down from 

above ; 
Living in love as His glorious guest 
To fill all our needs He's doing His best. 

Sorrows may come, but we may not give way, 
In His dear presence is strength for each day. 
Nor may we ever His loving care doubt, — 
He is as tender within as without. 

His lovino- helmet protects us from cold — 
Other gifts come here from sources untold; 
All of our morrows will show us this truth : — 
He is as tender in age as in youth. 

Love Him and trust Him, and sing ever true, 
He died for others as well as for you. 
No one may doubt He can cleanse all within — 
Lighten His burden ! Go ask others in. 

Others who linger in sickening doubt ; 
Tell them He cleanses within and without. 
Feeds then and garbs them, and leads them 

with care, 
Leads them in sorrow with tenderness rare. 



28 A MESSAGE 

Love of my life now my own Saviour is,^ — 
No other truth may stand out like this. 
No other theme my own song may grace 
Than only this one that's crowning my days.. 

Song of my love ! Then go out and win 
Some other soul, and bid him come in ; 
Go bring the saddened ones one and all, — 
Win them and lead them on with your call. 



The fleetest arrow in this House of Sin 
Is His who gave His Ufe your own to win. 

It is so sure, and yet so sweet and keen, 
It must be felt in order to be seen. 

Him, motive power in piercing Error's shield, 
Be, tender heart, a target in His field. 

All other arrows each may leave a scar — 
His arrows heal, and never yet did mar 

A saddened heart who came to Him for aid. 
Because for healing every one was made. 

And Sorrow's Son, your ever loving friend 
Will to your healing all His power lend. 



A MESSAGE 21) 



Hope lives and blooms on Faith and Trust, 

And sometimes blooms alone; 
It only dies because it must 

When touched by blighting tone 

Of needless frosts. There is no need 

Of letting our hope die; 
Another's hope our own may lead. 

Then never reason why. 

Live on in Trust, and cherish Hope, 

And sing on joyously. 
In darkened vale, on sunny slope 

Then blooms sweet Charity. 



30 A MESSAGE 



In modest garb and winning way 

Of youth as well as age 
Sings Charity her humble lay 

Alike to child and sage. 

Nourished by love she grows to blend 
With Faith and Hope her song ; 

More lowly themes their essence lend 
To speed her growth along. 

Although so varied, yet the same 
Theme runs her path along. 

She is majestic in her aim 
Though lowly be her song. 

She is to Love an open field, 

And softly we may try 
How much of it our lives may yield 

Dear friend, both you and I. 



A MESSAGE 31 



Our Saviour's life, our Saviour's death, 
His passage through the grave 

Is each and all full proof this breath 
Returns to Him who gave 

Us Hfe. We need no other word 
Than our own soul's response: — 

To waste this life we can't afford, 
We walk this way but onK:e. 

We drill our wells, or dig our graves, 

And love, and only know 
That God knows always how to save 

His creatures here below. 

And we must not lose sight of ac4:s 

That all are for the best ; 
And not o'erlook the desert tracts, 

That thirst like all the rest 

Of God's great golden garden spot, 

His dearly loved Earth. 
Then, dearest dear, neglect it not — 

The place that saw your birth. 

But live, and work, and love, and bloom 

In swaying to and fro. 
And let oblivion, death, and doom 

Do just as others do 



32 A MESSAGE 

That shrivel up and feed on ghosts, 

And eat each other up. 
Leave in the hands of Heaven's Hosts 

The issue. Friends, look up ! 

Oh, mortal ! Do not waste in strife 

A day you live but once ; 
Count each a pearl, they are your life. 

The life you live but once. 



A MESSAGE 33 



"Do unto others as ye would 
That they should do to you." 

But listen now ! What if you should 
Make something else come true? 

Supposing now, you think like this : — 

''His promise never failed; 
He says, — Whatever measure is 

The one that you've entailed 

Upon yourself for friend and foe 

To measure as his due 
Will be the one that friend and foe 

Will always give to you." 

Then think: — "Now, this I want for me; 

If I do thus and so 
Unto my neighbor, it will be 

But right that he should go 

And give me just the thing I want. 

I give him more than that 
If I put on a smiling front 

What I am driving at 

I'm sure to get. What I give him 

Is of no use to me. 
I keep His law, — in finest trim 

My own affairs will be." 



34 A MESSAGE 

Think you The Man of Galilee 
Would e'er approve of this ? 

If deeds from self are not set free 
The teaching is not His. 

In purest selfless deeds of Love 
Our Master's time v^as spent; 

And with His services He v^ove 
No thought of Self, but v^ent 

On quiet, lowly, humble deed, 

Or loving errand bent. 
And you and I are both agreed 

No better life was spent. 

No other Hfe, no lesser aim 
Is worth your while or mine ; 

Let's up and win in His own name, — 
Come, friends, fall into Hne! 

Fall into line, and softly tread 

The path of loving deed. 
.Come, feast upon life-giving bread! 
It meets your every need. 



A MESSAGE 35 



speak softly of His suffering, 
But bear in mind His Cross; 

Your soul His victory will bring 
To victory, not loss. 

For every pang your heart may feel 

His heart will feel as well ; 
To Sorrow's Son make haste to kneel, 

He knows and loves you well. 

Leave every doubt and every fear — 

Go, curb your arrant will; 
Then, in your humbly willing ear, 

He whispers 'Teace, be still." 



36 A MESSAGE 



A blossom smiled by the pathway — 

A tiny yellow flower; 
The brambles grew thick about it, 

Yet it smiled on hour by hour. 

So near it grew that human feet 
Would brush it time and again. 

But the brambles above and about it 
Kept oft* from it harm and stain. 

Those brambles that sucked the food 

Away from its tiny root 
But served to protect the flower 

From the crush of the straying foot. 

So the Master lets some things hinder, 

Some things hold us down ; 
But those things that seemingly check us 

But help us attain our crown. 

What though the noise about us. 
The worry and toil and sin 

Are holding us down ! They flourish 
In order to let us in — 

Into the growth of Eternity ! 

Off from the things that have been! 
In to the glory of Heaven ! 

Out from the tumult of Sin. 



A MESSAGE 37 



Say, have you thought just when The Sav- 
iour wins? — 

'Tis when you let Him save you from your 
sins I 

His name is Jesus, — know you what it means, 
This name on which a weary sinner leans? 

The name received by Joseph as the One, 
The only fitting one, for Mary's Son? 

And do you think that Name will e'er impart 
Relief to any but a willing heart? 

And, think you, when you find that you are 

free. 
That you will e'er a willing sinner be? 

And, do you think when once He wins your 

heart, 
That He is ever willing to depart ? 

Come, treat Him fairly, as you would a man, 
And solve this problem, for I know you can ! 

This Name in which you trust that you can 

win 
Will never save from anything but sin. 



38 A MESSAGE 

And not that other man's upon whose deeds 

you frown — 
The sins that Christ can save you from must 

be your own. 

And when that other man, and you, have 

found that out 
And find relief — Is there the smallest doubt 

When you, and he, and neighbor, friend, and 

foe. 
And old, and young, and all men, high and 

low, 

Have come to Christ, and He has set them 
free, — 

The slightest doubt, think you, of what re- 
sults might be? 

No! That, and only that, will make this total 

sum : — 
The World for Christ will bring Millennium. 



A MESSAGE 3»^ 



3n jFIiffSt 



Two souls winged up from a noisome trench. 
One was German, the other French. 

Where thousands were hurrying to and fro. 
And none of them knowing where to go, 

These two wanderers slackened their pace 
As each recognized the other's face. 

As over the battle they greeted each other 
The Frenchman said to his German brother : — 

"Strange that we two here should meet, 
And each of us bound for the Mercy Seat. 

You killed me, and I killed you, 
Each to his country staunch and true; 

But here we journey we know not whither, 
Let us make that journey in peace together.'* 

The German silently grasped the hand 
That on earth had been turned 'gainst his 
Fatherland. 

Then said the German, as they travelled to- 
gether 
Onward and upward, they knew not whither: 



40 A MESSAGE 

"Come, let us drift to that nearest star 

And rest awhile, and find out where we are!" 

The heights grew higher, the depths grew 

deeper, 
As they neared the star, and found the keeper. 

The keeper silently looked them o'er. 
He had seen such wanderers often before. 

Then said the Frenchman, while scanning his 

face 
Awed by his majesty, beauty, and grace: — 

''We have come up from the battle yonder, 
What is the name of this place, I wonder?" 

The keeper smilingly shook his head — 
You'll find that out for yourselves," he said. 

"For to each wanderer that ever came 
This place is known by a different name. 

One called it Heaven, another one, Hell, — 
What you m.ay call it, I cannot tell." 

"We have been travelling to and fro. 
Pray, let us rest awhile with you!'* 

Then said the keeper, while showing a cham- 
ber 
With walls of gold and a couch of amber, — 



A MESSAGL 41 

"This is the best that I can do — 
There is room for one, but not for two !" 

Up spoke the German : — *T'm the stronger, — 
I can hold out a Httle longer ; 

And since you have not room for two, 
Don't, I beg, let the Frenchman go !" 

'Tf one of us must be turned away," 

The Frenchman said, ''Let the German stay. 

But of the two I'm the better sleeper, 

I can rest on the floor if you'll let me, keeper." 

'*No !" thundered the German, 'TVe slept like 

a log 
While stuck in the mud in the midst of a bog! 

You put your head on that pillow yonder, — 
Mine shall rest on the floor just under!" 

Said the keeper then with a gleam of mirth, 
*'Why didn't you set this going on earth? 

''Behold the couch that held but one 
The two can rest in comfort on! 

"And the mansion of which this room is a part 
Is just as big as your own heart." 

Then they saw the walls — A flood of light ! 
The narrow chamber — A world of delie-ht! 



42 A MESSAGE 



They hover above us on shining wings 
These shimmering, tender and beautiful 

things ; 
We watch them in silence, and list to their 

flutter, 
On pinions of heaven. Our lips may not utter 
But tiniest part of the message each brings 
As they hover above us in widening rings. 

We watch for their coming, and catch on the 

wing 
Some beautiful, tender and shimmering thing. 
We catch them and clothe them in garments 

of earth, 
And selfishly think we have given them birth ; 
The circles e'er wider and wider grow, 
But whence the origin we may not know ! 



A MESSAGE 43-' 



COitirning: €itt\t0 

Our wider circles are streams of Love 
In all things mortal and all above ; 
They hover above us, and touch our heart, 
And fountains of Hope within us start 
That surge and swell with immortal good, 
And grow into tender immortal food. 

These widening circles fainter grow 
As we walk in Hope in this Here Below ; 
And as they swing farther from their nest 
They grow in strength till they fill our breast 
We feel the growth of their unused wings, 
We feel their power in their widening rings, 
Till they stray from their nests within our 

heart 
And their own widening circles start. 

And from these widening circles start 
Fountains of joy within our heart; 
They surge and bubble and swell within 
And other widening circles spin. 
Like intricate webs spun in Larger Lands 
By wonderful, skillful, immortal Hands. 



44 A MESSAGE 



A childless widow stands with foreign skies 

above 
And wrings despairing hands in misery 

and love. 

Full well she knows 'ere long her lonely path 

will run 
With feeble, tottering steps along towards the 

setting sun. 

And Ruth and Orpah must return to homes 

from which thev came; 
While their decision she must learn without a 

thought of blame. 

They weep, they mourn, they wail, they 

stifle sigh and moan, — 
Then Orpah turns to homeward trail, and 

Ruth is left alone. 

Naomi turns and grieves to find Ruth, weep- 
ing at her knee ; 

Ruth's tender, tortured heart and mind 
Naomi could not see. 

She could not see her tender love for things 

of childhood days ; j 

The flowers beneath, the skies above, the 
wild birds' easy grace. 



A MESSAGE 45 

Each verdant field, each shady nook, — How 

they entreat her stay ! 
The banks along the babbHng brook — She can 

not go away. 

Her life upon the verdant plain has been a life 

of bliss, — 
Can she endure that deadening pain, and go 

away like this? 

When, through her tears, she tries to view 

each dear familiar place 
The dearest thing to her 'tis true, is sweet 

Naomi's face. 

''My daughter, why yet longer stay ? The day 

is dying fast ; 
The shadows deepen on your way !" Naomi 

speaks at last. 

"The shadows deepen, it is true, — Think 
you I'll leave you? No! 

My path will be the one where you and I to- 
gether go. 

Entreat me not to go ; we must not linger here. 
With you I now must go ; the people you 
hold dear 

Shall be my people too, and your God mine 

shall be, 
And where you die I'll know where I must 

buried be. 



46 A MESSAGE 

.And may the God who now sees all that's in 

my heart. 
And who has heard my vow — If ever I depart 

In any least degree, retract what here I've 

said 
As He sees fit to punish me, His wrath be on 

my head." 

A stranger Ruth goes forth far from her 

home, to be 
With love and simple worth, the stay of 

Naomi. 

Of poverty the two its very essence find 
When Ruth asks leave to go into the field to 
bind 

The sheaves that she may glean where kind- 
ly reapers bend 

To strenuous tasks with sickles keen, and 
merry shouts that rend 

The balmy morning air till noon's oppressive 

heat, 
And tired workers there the owner's greeting 

meet. 

Responding to his cheer, with kindly thought 
intent, 

His trusted overseer his explanation lent 



A MESSAGE 47 

As Boas stays to ask ''Whose may this dam- 
sel be, 

Tn this most humble task? No Jewish maid 
is she." 

This answer came at once in accents kind 

and slow : — 
"One of Naomi's sons, whose story we all 

know 

In far off Moab wed this maid, who at his 

death refused 
To leave Naomi ; though 'tis said she is to our 

ways unused 

She now with ceaseless care performs this 

lowly task. 
She stood this morning there so modestly to 

ask 

If I would let her glean what our good reap- 
ers left : 

And now we all have seen how tirelessly and 
deft 

That slender arm and hand, that nimble 

foot can be 
To, in a stranger land, find bread for Naomi." 

With intent ear and eye looks Boas up at 

liist 
And sees Ruth standing by, with modest eye 

downcast. 



48 A MESSAGE 

"My daughter! Listen now, pray do not 
leave my field ; 

Your story well I know. ]\Iay God His bless- 
ing yield." 

"And, men, — this charge from me : — Let this 

thing be your care — 
Her sheaves must many be; may no one ever 

dare 

To hinder in the least this gentle damsel's will ; 
And let her thirst appeased be at the crocks 
you fill." 

She looks into his face and says while bend- 
ing low : 

"Why have I found such grace in your sight 
that I now 

Although I am not one like your handmaidens 

here, 
I have your kindness won for some one I hold 

dear?" 

"My daughter, well we know your tender 

thought and care 
For her whose furrowed brow you smooth 
with patience rare. 

And for whose faltering tread you smooth the 

roughest ground; 
Jehovah grant your head with blessings may 

be crowned." 

And Ruth's own worth in Bible truth is 

shown, — 
Of Orpah's fate on earth is very little known. 



A MESSAGE 49^ 



Speeding through every tiniest part, 
Every sinew and every heart, 
Every corner and every spot, 
Every angle and every dot, 
Error is making his heedless way, 
Chasing Hfe's beauty and love away. 

Fearful in power he looms indeed. 
As mighty in bulk as he is in speed! 
Only one arm can aim at his head. 
Sting his heel, and strike him dead ! 
Love is the arm and Love is the power — 
Love is his master, — now is the hour ! 

Men and women, with love at your head,. 
Go find Error and strike him dead ! 
Strike at his altar, strike at his home, " '"''^ 

Strike at his billows, and strike at his foamf 
Strke at his bulk and strike at his speed! 
Go kill his leader whose name is Greed. 

Exterminate all of that slippery tribe 

Who hang onto Greed and his steward Bribe ! 

Find them and crush them and bum at the 

stake 
All that is aiding the slimy snake. 
With Selfishness fanning the flame of Greed 
The Snake of Hate is bred indeed. 



50 A MESSAGE 



'Btttt jFear, mt Sitt iReat/ 

Angel voices whisper now 
As we walk this vale below 

On the place that saw our birth 
"Never fear, 
We are near 
Our beloved here on earth." 

Tender voices every one 
Whisper sweetly one by one 

Thro'out sadness, gloom, or mirth :- 
"Never fear. 
We are near 
Our beloved here on earth." 

Sweetly now I hear them call 
Gently, firmly, one and all, 

Still with tenderness begirth : — 
"Never fear, 
We are near 
Our beloved here on earth." 



A MESSAGE 51 



There dwells deep down in each human heart, 

Alike most precious to high and lowly, 
A thought of home, and it forms a part 
Of every mood, bright or melancholy; 
It grows with youth into manhood years, 
To own a home, with its joys and fears. 
He strives with a firm endeavor, 
With zest unabated ever. 

No strife nor trifling may enter there. 

Nor words unjust or unkindly spoken! 
For Love is ruler — let each beware 
Lest its scepter be bent or broken. 
For Love is shy, — Love may take wings 
*Mid all the bustle of common things 
Unless it is rooted deep — 
Rooted both firm and deep. 

'Tis said that woman must know no fights, — 
That man alone may express her meaning; 
That woman's effort to gain her rights 
Are wanton sheaves and not worth the 
gleaning. 
But fight she must, in her own sweet way, 
With all her weapons in bright array ; 
And each must be right for use 
Without a question of truce. 

Her loving smile drives each care away, — 
Her tender touch makes a burden lighter, 



52 A MESSAGE 

And if her handclasp sends Hate astray 
She is indeed a most noble fighter. 

AVith little foxes that may come in 
She must make battle, and she must win — 
No use with them to he tender, 
For she must never surrender. 

A home is sacred ! How much indeed 

Of Heaven is there within its portal ! 
No place for selfishness, lust or greed 
Nor little sins that beset each mortal 
Must e'er be found in this sacred spot, — 
The finest purpose, the purest thought 
Should dwell in a habitation 
That proves the heart of a nation. 

There is no praise in the world as sweet 

As father's praise for his loyal daughter, 
As, grown to womanhood, pure, discreet, 
She proves the worth of the truths he 
taught her. 
Let earthly beauty decay — It must! 
Let gleaming ornament? turn to dust ! 
The finer beauty that we adore 
Lasts truly forevermore. 

There is no height that Love may not scale ! 
There is no distance Love may not cover! 
There is no roadway, nor path, nor trail. 
Too difficult for an ardent lover ! 

May God be with you. A happy life, 
Both long and happy as man and wife 
Be yours, apart or together, 
In everv kind of weather. 



A MESSAGE 63 



Sou anti J* 

What mav we make of it, if we try, 
This world we are Hving in, you and I ? 
A blessed old world or a sad old world? 
A good old world or a bad old world ? 
A world for the true and the free — 
A world fit for you and me. 

What may we find in it if we try. 
The home we are thinking of — ^you and I ? 
In all the world the cheeriest place, 
Of all the faces the dearest face 
We shall find in it, you and I? 
In this home of ours by and by. 

What may v/e make of it if we try, 
This home we are planning, you and I ? 
A haven of refuge, solace, and rest, 
A place to do and be our best — 
A place where we are agreed 
That Love shall reign indeed. 

What may we be in it, if we try, — 
This home we are making, you and I ? 
King and queen in this sacred spot, 
Though we may be by the world forgot,- 
Loving and loyal and free 
In this home of ours, you and me! 



54 A MESSAGE 

What may the outcome be by and by 
If we live our ideals, you and I ? 
Others who see us may wish to find 
A home and hearth of the selfsame kind ! 
But they can't, you know, if they try, 
For we won't be there, you and I ! 



A MESSAGE 5^ 



Well within a tangled forest sat a maiden all 
alone, 

With the cedars all about her where the king 
of daylight shone. 

And the grasses and the mosses vied in fra- 
grance with the best, 

And the winsome scarlet berries lent their 
brightness with the rest. 

Fringe of moss and edge if leaflet had a 

beauty all its own — 
One as dainty as the other, each as modest and 

unknown 
As the maiden 'mid the tangles in that forest 

all alone, 
With the sky and clouds above her on her 

mossclad woodland throne. 

With the best of Heaven within her, with the 

best of Earth about — 
The Creator's finest purpose, consecrated, 

pure, devout. 
She was Lady of the realm where the king of 

daylight shone, — 
A blue canopy above her, and a mossclad log 

her throne. 



56 A MESSAGE 



In a quiet little inlet to which many waters 

run 
A modest waterlily spread its fragrance to the 

sun. 
It had no thought for beauty and it had no 

thouofht for fame 
Yet the finest of earth's beauty from that 

waterlily came. 

It simply bloomed and blossomed as the God 
of Nature meant 

When He placed the modest lily there to fol- 
low its own bent. 

Its petals made its beauty, and its fragrance 
made its fame 

Till you felt the lily's fragrance when you 
heard the lily's name. 

That waterlily bared its heart and scented all 

the air, 
Till the birds and all the insects thought that 

waterlily fair. 
And it rested on the surface of the quiet 

water where 
The Wanderer by the wayside came and saw 

the lily there. 



A MESSAGE 57 

Nor did those birds and insects who saw the 

lily there 
E'er know the silent depths from which the 

lily drew its grace ; 
And only just the Wanderer knew where tiny 

rootlets went 
To find the bloom and fragrance that the 

waterlily lent. 



58 A MESSAGE 



I wrote a tender little song — 

It seemed a sorry scrawl. 
Some words were crossed, some others wrong, 

Some would not do at all. 

The more I wrote the more I found 
The paper marked and blurred; 

But through it all I ranght the sound 
As if the songster whirred 

In ever widening circles on 

Until, a tiny spot. 
He seemed to rest when he had gone 

Where others saw him not. 

But every one could hear him trill 

His wondrous melody, 
And every one could feel the thrill 

Of heavenborn notes set free. 

The song appeared in fairer form 

Upon a fairer page, — 
This little love song, newly bom, 

That would not die with age. 

But how, until this task was done, 

I could have torn the true 
Unsightly, scarred, original one 
I cannot see, — Can you? 



A MESSAGE 59 



9?otninfi: UHot^^ip in a €o\xntti^ CfiutcS* 

The air is balmy, the wind is right, 
The Sabbath morning is fair and bright. 
In vale, on hillside, by winding ways 
Where patient toilers on working days 
All, one by one, to their labors plod 
Today are seeking the House of God 

Upon the hillside; its modest spire 
Points toward Heaven. From mud and mire 
It lifts the spirit. It hfts the mind 
From earth, its pleasures, its sordid grind, 
Its endless worry o'er gain of pelf, — 
And leads the heart on to find itself. 

The heart that, slowly like plodding 

worm, 
Shall find itself, but in higher form, 
A gleaming jewel when things that rust 
And crack and crumble have turned to dust. 
The heart that, softly, where others trod 
In faith looks upward and faces God. 

The door is open. The music peals 

In deep-voiced thunder, or softly steals 

In sweetest cadences to each ear 

To which The Maker gave power to hear. 

The door is open. All enter in. 

And leave behind every thought of sin. 



60 A MESSAGE 

The preacher rises, — with kindling eye 
He welcomes worshipers drawing nigh; 
Gives out the hymn and leads on the song 
To praise Jehovah, — his voice is strong. 
Then others join in the song until 
The hymn is finished and all is still. 

Then reverently each bows the head; , 
The prayer is offered, the board is spread. ' 
Each heart draws nearer the sacred goal, 
The Bread of Life that can feed the soul. 
For child and sage and lost one returned 
Are all as one where faith is concerned. 

The aged head with its fringe of gray, 
The youth, the infant, all bend to pray. 
A nameless peace now descends o'er all 
From Him who hearkens before the call; 
And each and all claim the sacred right 
To catch a ray of eternal light. 

The prayer is ended. The blessed Word 

Of Him, the Mighty, the All-adored, 

Is simply read by an earnest voice 

That shames the hypocrite's babbling noise. 

It points the way for the wayward son ; 

It warns and pleads with the erring one. 

Lo ! Through the window a ray of light 
Bursts forth, and rests like a halo bright 
About the head of the man who stands 
Like yielding clay in The Master's hands; 



A MESSAGE 61 

It draws the mind to that crown of thorn. 
By mortals made, and The Master worn. 

Another hymn, and another prayer, 
The benediction pronounced, and there 
Begins the greeting of friend to friend, — 
The morning worship is at an end. 
With hearts at rest those who came to pray 
Serenely homeward now wend their way. 



62 A MESSAGE 



The stars were sounding a record — 

A melody from the sky 
To a plate both grooved and lacquered 

By a stranger passing by. 

The moon was tuning another — 

A brilliant harpsichord 
To make, in touch with the other, 

A melody unto The Lord. 

The twigs in the sombre forest 
Were stringing Eaolean harps 

To a harmony, ever the choicest 
Of sweet little flats and sharps. 

The song, indeed, was the starlight — 
The harp the Wanderer's dreams ; 

The harpsichord tuned by the moonlight 
Was found in its tender beams. 

The twigs and the lights and the silence 
Made melody unto the L<ord. 

That wonderful starry silence ! 
That wonderful starrv chord ! 



A MESSAGE 63 



In a sheltered valley, centuries ago, 

Flowers and ferns and mosses side by side 

did grow. 
By a peaceful river winding on its way 
Where animals and reptiles, now extinct, too 

did stray. 

Many lofty mountains guarded this fair spot ; 
And the winds and hurricanes, though raging, 

found it not. 
Noble trees about the mountains in the valley 

grew; 
Verdure there was ever fresh, and beautiful, 

and new, 

Here, beside the river, 'mid ferns and grasses 

tall 
Stood a little fir tree, tiniest of them all. 
Watered by the dew and kissed by breeze and 

sun. 
Its tiny needles found their way so shyly 

one by one. 

So it lived in silence on, grew taller day by 

day. 
Till at last it got entangled in a lump of clay. 



64 A MESSAGE 

How it happened no one knew, but only that 

no more 
The little fir tree lived and grew just where 

it grew before, 

Then it stayed for ages on deep down and out 

of sight 
Till one fair day quite suddenly again it came 

to light; 
And some one with a hammer in search of 

things unknown 
Found out by chance the silent lay within its 

bed of stone. 

How delicate the outline of the tiny little 

thing ! 
From out of ages past it sent its greeting on 

the wing. 
And all who saw it marveled at so new and 

strange a sight 
As the little fir again was brought so sweetly 

into light. 

Just so, I think, God hides some souls away, — 
So sweetly to surprise us the last day ! 



A MESSAGE 65 



Sin (^tplout* 

He has all the world before him, he is play- 
ing with the globe; 

With his chubby little fingers he is trying 
hard to probe 

Beneath the shiny surface where the North 
Pole ought to be, 

And the fruit of his researches he is holding 
out to me. 

His mother has to watch him, oh so closely 

all the time, — 
In spite of lovely azure eyes, in spite of 

smile sublime; 
He has a grip of iron when he grabs a wisp 

of hair, 
And we must keep our distance, for Pm sure 

he does not care. 

He's apt to put into his mouth such things as 

make him sick. 
But I've known boys of thirty do that very 

selfsame trick. 
This little man will grow more wise — at 

least we hope he may 
For he is just a tiny chap, — eleven months. 

old today. 



^6 A MESSAGE 

But he'll go on exploring and doing things 
worth while — 

He'll be a cheery worker, and keep his win- 
ning smile. 

His grip may be of iron, but I'm sure that he 
will care 

For all that's good and noble, for all that's 
right and fair. 



A MESSAGE 67 



JLo\)t JLott. 

When we can see in all things wells of beauty, 
And all unite in hidden sympathy; 

And trace the course of each and every duty 
To its own source in lasting harmony, — 

Then we may work and live our song, 
Our own love song! 

And when we sing so all the world may 
hear it, 
And read life's meaning in our every mood ; 
And each and all live so as to endear it 

As emblem of God's everlasting food. 
Then we may sing as ne'er before 
Our own love lore ! 

When we can see in each and every duty 

A copy true of The Sublimer Face; 
And all show forth their truth in living beauty 
Earth will indeed be Love's own dwelling 
place. 
Then all may sing as ne'er before 
Their own love lore ! 

Then you and I, and all of earth's true lovers. 

May live and love, and truly loyal be 
To God's own finer purpose, as it hovers 

Above our heads as Love has set us free. 
And Peace will circle wide and free 
O'er you and me ! 



gg A MESSAGE 



Work is what we make it, 

Cruel or kind, 
Unless we can take it 

As part of the grind 

That lifts, in each duty, 

Us upward to God; 
Each one has its beauty 

Though clothed in sod. 

It may be an engine, 

It may be a shaft ; 
It may be a life line 

In form of a craft. 

It all is a body 

Witii God as its head, 
And work is a study 

When Thought is the thread. 



A MESSAGE 60 



Cobwebs in a doctor's office, 
Wrinkles in a youthful face; 

Bitter in a lily's chalice, 
All are bubbles out of place. 

As a mong-rel in a manger, 
Or a songster out of tune 

Is rebuke for decent stranger, 
Or are snowdrifts in life's June. 

Although raining down as troubles, 
Or as shadows o'er the sun, 

Hate, and Sin, and Sorrow's bubbles 
Must all burst when life is done. 

Burst, and turn to finest vapor, 
Part of Nature's living breath: 

Love the blower, love the shaper, — 
And will pass away at death. 



70 A MESSAGE 



The heavens declare the glory of God ! 

The firmament showeth the work of His 
Hand. 
Orion, in splendor, far outshines the sod, 
Though clothed in verdure each radiant 
strand. 
The pale polar regions reflecting the glow 
Of the day star when hidden, and far out 
of sight, 
Is the gleam of the glow-worm that falters 
below, 
Revealing the uttermost parts of His might. 

The queen of the heavens on radiant wing 
Is decking the altars where pale incense 
burns ; 
And these uttermost parts beyond her form a 
ring 
Befitting the diadem for which He yearns, 
Who is God of the universe, centre of life. 
Most potent in peace, wholly lacking in 
strife ; 
And as fully removed from the folly of men 
As the glow from the worm when the sun 
shines again. 



A MESS'AGE It 

And the day is at hand when, with joy unre- 
strained, 
Men shall sing to His glory again as of 
yore. 
The fountain of righteousness has not been 
drained, 
But is surging and swelling as never before. 
Go, sing to His glory ! To Him praise is due. 
Go sing your Hosannah ! Go, sing and be 
true! 
If you can't be Orion, or David, you know — 
You may be the glow-worm that falters, 
below. 

Tlttnt^ 7ltactot&. 

Are vaster armies of Love's own forces 
Now being marshalled by God's own Hand. 

And unseen fountains from unseen sources 
Are finding channels at His command. 

For soon the curtains are rent asunder 
And Christ's own banner will be unfurled. 

We cannot fathom what rests inunder 
The silent depths of a sleeping world. 



72 A MESSAGE 



The mustard seed in the Garden of Life 
Is not the Garden of Eden Strife. 
The mustard seed sent down from above 
Is found in the Garden of Eden Love! 

It sprouts and grows and branches out — 
Kingdom of God within and without. — 
All may seek to build their nest; 
Live, and Love, and sweetly rest. 

Woman is man's greatest blessing 

In a new and clearer way; 
In her inner life progressing 

Out from night to perfect day. 

Out from state of direst sorrow 
Into Woman's perfect day, — 

Woman's worth is Earth's own morrow, 
Lifting Love from out of clay. 

Lifting all things from Life's Dawning 
To Love's own sweet morning dew: — 

Love's ow^n wonders need no fawning 
To weave garments sweet and true. 



A MESSAGE 73 



Si jFroton anu a ferntil^ 

Some one smiled at her work today, 

A joyous, radiant smile; 
It chased a lingering frown away, 

And made the living — worth while. 

It added to Nature a wondrous charm, 

A brightness to earth and sky. 
And somehow it lent a strength to the 

arm — 

A strength that naught may defy. 

For frowns and smiles are powerful things, 
And they work in a powerful way 

For good or ill ; and their speedy wings 
Never tire of the rival play. 

One may quicken, the other slay 
The imps of the human heart. 

Be careful then of your frowns today! 
Be earnest and do your part. 



76 A MESSAGF, 

Then came disaster, sudden, dire 

Over these thousand souls ; 
Their gods were forgotten, thrown in the mire 
Like so many cumbersome tools. 

To The God of the universe, one and all 
Now cried for help with one mighty call. 
Think you He heeded their cry! 



A MESSAGE 77 



I could not sing my little song 

Though all the words were there; 
And melody I knew full well, 

And bright the day and fair. 
But though I tried and tried again 

To sing that simple lay 
I could not sing it all day long, 

The music stayed away! 

I looked within my heart, I saw 

A strange thing hiding there; 
'Twas neither good, nor bright, nor fair, 

Nor gay, nor debonnaire. 
I drove it out, that lurking thing, 

In deeper, sweeter strain 
I sing again my little song, 

A tender, glad refrain ! 

Oft and again that dread thing tries 

To creep into my heart. 
Oft and again I drive it off, — 

I know its every art. 
Though but as yet a tiny thing, 

How sad will be my fate 
If I allow to grow within 

That lurking traitor — Hate! 



76 A JklESSAGF. 

Then came disaster, sudden, dire 

Over these thousand souls ; 
Their gods were forgotten, thrown in the mire 
Like so many cumbersome tools. 

To The God of the universe, one and all 
Now cried for help with one mighty call. 
Think you He heeded their cry! 



A MESSAGE 77 



I could not sing my littk song 

Though all the words were there; 
And melody I knew full well, 

And bright the day and fair. 
But though I tried and tried again 

To sing that simple lay 
I could not sing it all day long, 

The music stayed away ! 

I looked within my heart, I saw 

A strange thing hiding there; 
Twas neither good, nor bright, nor fair, 

Xor gay, nor debonnaire. 
I drove it out, that lurking thing. 

In deeper, sweeter strain 
I sing again my little song, 

A tender, glad refrain ! 

Oft and again that dread thing tries 

To creep into my heart. 
Oft and again I drive it off, — 

I know its even,' art. 
Though but as yet a tiny thing, 

How sad will be my fate 
If I allow to grow within 

That lurking traitor — Hate! 



-.78 A MESSAGE 



A builder I know so gallant and gay, 
So hopeful, cheery and strong, 

Who is busy always for day by day 
A roadway both wide and long 

Is his to build. His twenty-four blocks 
Must, each day, be put into place ; 

And he transforms even the roughest rocks 
Into emblems of beauty and grace. 

His trained chisel must trace on each square 
Of that pavement solid and grand 

The tale of the hour it was placed there 
As record of sea and land. 

He is tender hearted, this youthful Time, 
And joyously writes of the good ; 

But his heart weeps blood over records of 
crime. 
And he works in a saddened mood 

On tales of plunder, greed, and shame, 
That must be imprinted there, — 

O'er deeds that darkness might fail to name, 
But he chisels them all with care. 



A MESSAGE 79 

But in spite of it all this worker brave 
Makes tKe pavement more lovely each 
year. 

For but to do good so many men crave 
Each fruit to his heart grows more dear. 

And this theme of his song so joyously 
rings : — 
'Tor the future have never a fear ! 
The world grows better, the Universe 
sings — 
Grows better year by year." 

He is working cheerily day by day, — 

Working for you and me ; 
Busily working paving the way — 

The way to Eternity ! 



80 A MESSAGE 



Op? ^elt^cope* 

I claim a wonderful telescope 

I often use when the night is dark; 
When billows roll round the land of Hope, 
And frail and wind-tossed my little bark. 

The darkest night given the clearest view; 

The roughest sea forms the surest way, — 
The faintest heart shows the lenses true — 

So true I cannot be led astray. 

For Faith, the wonderful telescope, 
Was made for use by a Hand Divine. 

I found it one day — I had to stoop — 
I tested it, and call it mine! 



A MESSAGE 81 



^ 2Dteam« 

I dreamed they were building a mansion fair 

For my eternal home; 
And they chose each stone with such won- 
drous care 

They'd never reach the dome. 

For I had to bring them the wherewith to 
build, 

And I labored long and hard; 
My heart with infinite sadness was filled, 

For from heaven I thought I'd be barred. 

My choicest materials were thrown away — ' 

The fairest deeds I had done ! 
'Twas claimed they would crumble and decay 

E're Eternity had begun. - 

"But what can I do!" I asked in despair 
Of these builders of heavenly homes, 

"If with all my toil and all my care 
Not even a cabin comes ?" 

"Look well to your motives," one builder said 
"They are brick and mortar and stone! 

Of devotion and love the foundation is made. 
Deeds will not do alone. 



82 A MESSAGE 

Do good all your life — if the motive be wrong 
No mansion there will be for you ! 

And labor hard, or labor long, 
Your bricks will be poor and few. 

But a cooling cup in The !\[a.ster"s name 
Builds a wall both wide and high; 

And one loving deed will make the frame 
Of your mansion in the sky !" 

I awoke. The dream is with me still, 

And I firmly believe it true, 
That deeds with wrong motives, do what we 
will, 

Are crumbUng bricks. Don't you? 



A MESSAGE 83 



An Angel hovers underneath the sky, 

And lends to generations passing by 

A glory borrowed from Eternity. 

Each ray but stays to set one mortal free; 

And as each generation passes by 

The Angel hovers underneath the sky. 



^""^^fr^ 



He told her of his lore. She saw 

Love's dignity in line of cheek and jaw, 

And the proud bend of the beloved head. 

Then shyly, with a smile, she laid 

Her hand in his. And heart to heart they 

stood — 
Entwined within eternal Beauty, and eternal 

Good. 



84 A MESSAGE 



Up from a boulder a pine tree grew 
Tall and slender and straight as few. 
That boulder was split by that pine tree's 

growing, 
Simply growing, and not even knowing 
Its own irrepressible force. 

Some wind or other had carried the seed, 
And into a crevice 'twas lost. — Indeed — 
Are things ever lost, in this world I wonder? 
That seed was lost, but the pinetree yonder 
Today marks the place where it fell. 

As year by year the pine tree grew, 
Kissed by the sunlight, the wind, and the dew, 
The heart of the boulder was slowly breaking, 
Crumbling and cracking, splitting and 

breaking 
From the growth of the tiny seed. 

So you of today are bound to do. 
Onward and upward to live and grow. 
Boulders are split by your simply growing, 
Your living and loving, and not even knowing 
Your own irrepressible force. 



A MESSAGE 85 

Grow from the boulder of Hatred and Fear! 

None but the hatred pf evil rear. 

Grow from traditions that fetter the spirit ! 

Learn to applaud only simple merit ! 

And only fear to do wrong. 

Hate the evil ! Such hate is right. 
Fear it and fight it with all your might! 
Fear to oflFend e'en the humblest being! 
Fear like that is the spirit's freeing 
From old traditional bonds. 

Then, like the pine, you may rear your height 
Up from the fetters that hold and blight 
By their rocky grip all the joy of living. 
Lift up your voices in glad thanksgiving 
To the Author of Freedom and Might. 



(f""^§&»>««-^ 



Si ^ouc8» 

We send a tender little song 
Into the summer air; 

It speeds eternity along, 
And leaves its glor^^ there. 



86 A MESSAGE 



A gardener worked in his garden one day 
With trowel and spade at hand; 

And viewed with pleasure the gorgeous ar- 
ray 
Of flowers from many a land. 

The blossoms nodded and scented their best 

As the sun sank slowly down to the west, 
And the work for the day was done. 

But he noted a slender lily that pined 

For the cooling shade gf the dell ; 
And a rose whose beauty the shade confined 

Like a prisoner in his cell. 
And he said: ''On the morrow I'll change 

the two, 
One longs for the place where the other 
can't grow. 
And the rose loves the noonday sun." 

At dawn of day he thought of his word, 
And he worked till the task was done. 

All were bought with a price, and he could 
not afford 
The loss of a single one 

Of rose, or lily, or mignonette, 

And the royal rose was the gardener's pet, 
The lily his pride and care. 



A MESSAGE W" 

He watered and tended each plant so well 

And so faithfully day by day 
That rare fragrance poured forth from the 
lily's bell, 

And the rose in crimson array. 
Both nodded so sweetly as each one said. 
In a way of its own from its nice brown bed : 

"We know that he understands.'* 

Another Gardener works each day 

In His garden, the wide, wide world. 
Of the millions of blossoms in pleasing ar- 
ray 
One to lose He cannot afford. 
For the price that He paid for each tiny 

plant 
Was so dear, and great, and vast, that He 
can't 
Bear the loss of the tiniest one. 

We are plants in His garden, and He doth 
know 

How to train each plantlet well ; 
He knows where each may thrive and grow, 

And develop each tiny cell 
Of body, and soul, and mind, and heart, — 
If we do ours, He'll do His part — 

And we know that He understands. 



88 A MESSAGE 



Said the laughing moon to the splendid star 

That glittered out in the sky : 
"You poor little thing! I'm sorry you are 

Not as big as the earth or I. 
If you were you might play with me. Now 
the sun, 

Though not as big as we. 

Is really having a lot of fun 

Playing hide and seek with me. 

Though the earth is as big as thirteen 
suns, 

And bright and shining as gold, 
He never budges an inch, — the dunce — 

He must be growing old ! 
But he is so lively, sprightly and spry! 

How funny to see him run 
From under me, over me, out in the sky, — 

That funny old fellow, the sun!" 

Thoughts travel fast, and they travel far, 

And never miss the place. 
So they reached the heart of the Lone Pole 
Star 

Way out in the boundless space. 
The Pole Star pondered, and looked about 

To find whence the message came. 
For you never can tell how it finds things out, 

But it knows them just the same. 



A MESSAGE 89 

"Ah, I see!" said the Star, *lt started some- 
where 

Round the Httle planet here 
That circles that small sun over there 

In a constellation near. 
I believe they call it Tellus, or Earth, 

And it has but one little moon, 
As big as my smallest ray. What mirth 

That little thing has all alone!" 



90 A MESSAGE 



A bolt shot out of a clear blue sky- 
Setting half of a world on fire. 
And it made of the treasures of ages gone by 

A horrible funereal pyre. 
It made the arm of the warrior numb, 
It took from the hungry their only crumb, 
And made the peace loving singer dumb, 
And altered the poet's theme. 

Then out from deceit fulness of men 
Emerged a peace-prompting voice again. 
Love, in a clearer, sweeter strain 
Came into its own on Earth again. 

Found a love-theme all its own 

That circled through every hamlet and 
town: 

"Mine is the Glory in all things known. 

In every world yet made !" 



A MESSAGE 91 



A shy little bird in the top of a pine 

Sang to the summer night ; 
His feathers were rumpled, and not at all fine. 

Nor fit to be shown to the light. 

But he sang, — how he sang, that nightingale^ 
And listeners stood spellbound! 

They flocked to hear him o'er hill and vale, 
But the songster could not be found. 

He thought he sang to the solitude 

And knew not of human ear; 
And when he saw strange shapes intrude 

He flew away in fear. 

And hid again in another glen, 

And again his notes did ring; 
But many more came listening then 

For he could not choose but sing. 

God grant you and I, like that nightingale, 

Are singing our own true song ! 
Singing it freely to hill and dale — 

Singing it clear and strong. 



92 A MESSAGE 

If living at all you are singing a song, 

Unheeding a listening ear. 
Were you aware of a breathless throng 

You would flee away in fear. 

And hie away to another sphere, 
And again your notes would ring ; 

But many more would listen there— 
For you cannot choose but sing. 



A MESSAGF M 



Near the edge of a forest 'mid poppy and com 
I stood in the gray of the early morn 

To wait for the rising sun. 
With me waited songsters, whose clamor 

for food 
Rose, plaintive and sad, from the depths of 
the woods, 

Proclaiming the day begun. 

The trees of the forest, the flowers of the field. 
The insects and birds were all waiting to yield 

Their homage to him of the sky. 
The clouds were all resting, the winds were 

away. 
On the breath of the morn rode odors of hay, 

And poppy and corn and rye. 

My eye swept the forest, at last to behold, 
Away in the distance, a cloudlet of gold 

That proclaimed the approach of the Sun. 
Majestic, in splendor, the King of the Sky 
Rose silently, grandly, serenely, on high — 

A beautiful day had begun. 



94 A MESSAGE 



As clear, as unclouded as mother's love 
Dawns the second Sunday in May; 

The blossoms beneath and the skies above 
Smile sweetly on Mother's Day. 

And whether on one thing or other bent 

A sweet carnation, by common consent 
Adorns the jacket or coat 



-Of soldier and sailor, merchant and priest, 

Of high and low in the town. 
And "mother" reigns, for today at least, 

In each heart under jacket and gown. 
What no one utters, — the tho't is unsaid, — 
That sweet carnation speaks unafraid 

Of — "mother — the best in the world." 



The man in khaki whose memory retains 

Dark scenes from the Philippines, 
Or Cuba, perhaps, or whose hands bear 
stains 
This day from terror's scenes, 
Today thinks of mother. Perhaps she is 

dead, 
And the greensward covers her lowly bed, 
"My mother! God bless her," he breathes. 



A MESSAGE 95 

And the sailor lad: — "Wherever I roved, 

Wherever a flag v^^as unfurled, — 
'Mong other boys' mothers I have but 
proved 
My mother the best in the world!" 
He says, as he touches the blossom with 

pride, 
And looks far off. To that other side 
Go the thoughts of the sailor lad. 

And the merchant whose brain has been 
sadly perplexed 
By problems of profit and loss, 
And the priest who today, in his Sunday 
text. 
Shows a glimpse of The Man on The 
Cross, 
Each echoes the thought of the other's 

breast 
Wherever that sweet carnation finds rest — 
"My mother, the best in the world!" 



Starry skies now meeting 
Darkest night retreating 
From the rays now beating 

O'er the roaring tide! 
Lonely vigil keeping 
O'er the earth now sleeping. 
For its sins now weeping 

Is the Ocean wide ! 



96 A MESSAGE 

Morning light is breaking, 
Free, just for the taking. 
To the earth now waking 

From her pagan dream ! 
Bright shall be the gleaming 
Of the flames now dreaming, — 
Truth, with beauty teeming, 

Will right royal seem. 

None were ever clearer. 
None were ever nearer, 
None were ever dearer, 

Tho these flames are low, 
To that One Great Being, 
Who, from sin e'er fleeing, 
With a mind all-seeing 

Wrestles with them now ! 

To these flames now burning 
Heart of God is turning 
With a deeper yearning 

Than we mortals know! 
To the Truth within them 
He will surely win them, 
Tho gray distance dim them, — 

Flames that now are low ! 



A MESSAGE 97 



'Efiifif Present Utoublt mill /Rot Eong 

Our Saviour's Love! — How grand a theme 

to sing! 
Our Saviour's Love ! — Come let His mes- 
sage ring. 
Hark ! Hear the notes now ringing clear and 

pure : — 
This present trouble will not long endure. 
And you and I, and all the world beside, — 
Come, open now your hearts, and open 

wide 
The door. For all your ills He knows the 

cure! 
And mark ! — This trouble will not long 
endure. 

Look up ! The skies are clearing. From 

afar 
We hail with joy the Bright and Morning 

Star! 
All stars are singing clear and true and 

pure : — 
This present trouble will not long endure! 

Redeeming Love ! the only lasting c«re. 
And well I know all else can not endure 1 



A MESSAGE 



Love leads the way ! Love lends the mes- 
sage w^ings ! 
Love is the message, and 'tis Love that 
sings ! 

And you and I, and all the world beside, 

Come, open now your hearts, and open 
wide 

The door. For all your ills He knows the 
cure. 

And mark! This trouble will not long 
endure ! 



Soon dawns the day when Earth's dull roar 

of thunder 
Shall silenced be by angel voices yonder ! 

And Love's own realm this sin-drenched 

world shall be — 
Its cherished ruler He of Galilee. 

Behold The Man! Come, heed His tender 

pleading. 
Look at His brow ! His side. His hands are 

bleeding. 
Come, make your choice, if choice there can 

be 
Between death's rule and His of Galilee ! 



A MESSAGE 99 



Love led the way, a thorny one to me, 
For I was blind ; that love I could not see 
That trod the path none ever trod before. 
And bore the burdens never mortal bore. 

Love shed its radiance o'er my darkened 

way, 
And now 'tis clear since Love has led the 

way. 
His tender Love my deathless theme shall 

be 
Who trod the path of dread Gethsemane. 

And since that Love is dearer now by far 
Than aught beside — It is my guiding- star — 
That deathless Love my endless theme shall 

be! 
'Twill lead the way through all Eternity. 

Oh, tender Love! Oh, faithful, bleeding 

Heart, 
Whose depths I only understand in part! 
My Love, my Life I consecrate again 
Till Time's no more, for I shall know it 

then! 



100 A MESSAGE 



Calbar^ 

There is a spot among Judea's hills 

The thought of which my inmost being 

thrills ! 
The name is Calvary — He knew it well, 
Who bought us free. Can mortal being tell 

What boundless Love that broken Heart 

contained 
Who loved the soldiers e'en whose spears 

were stained 
With blood, each drop of which could buy 

a world. 
And from the Cross His deathless challenge 

hurled? 

What can we do but reverently bow 

Our heads to Him upon whose thornclad 

brow 
The agony that should be yours and mine 
Its seal had set, and take that form Divine 

Into our humbled heart and bid anew 
Him to remain; and to ourselves be true! 
Such Love is not of Earth ! It emanates 

alone 
About the Nazarene on Heaven's Throne. 



A MESSAGE 101 



You listen to the story of The Cross, 
You're moved to tears, and then, my 

friend, you toss 
That story from you, and right there and 

then 
You crucify His tortured Heart again. 

You're moved to tears ! Your tears were 

never meant 
To be the spear His tortured body rent. 
Your fleeting pity is the rusty nail, 
The bloody drop, the rocky, slanting trail. 

You think about the thorns upon His 

head — 
Now listen to me ! What was that you said? 
That those who placed that crown upon His 

brow 
Were of the rabble ! 'Twould not happen 

now! 

You deem not right ! Think you He suffers 

less 
Because 'tis your more cultured hands that 

press 
These thorns, those nails, those hours upon 

The Cross? 
His is the agony, and yours — The loss! 



102 A MESSAGE 



Come ye who vainly claim attention's pages 

To find within them precepts not a few! 
Go, read again the Wisdom of The Ages, 
And deem it worth your while to heed 
anew 
The grand Redeeming Love of Him who 

bore 
Upon The Cross the error at your door. 

Go ! Deem it right your Saviour's Love pro- 
claiming, 

For over all a clearer light is thrown 
Since life on Earth a fairer form is claiming 

In living thought of living love fullblown. 
Redeeming Love again proclaims its own — 
Instead of thorn it wears a gladder crown ! 

Its fairer form now lends to Life's own 
meaning 
A finer Truth of Beauty's own decree ; 
Whose fairer forms are part of love's own 
gleaning 
That sprang from out The Cross on 
Calvary. 
And ministering angels all may be 
Who are from aught but tenderness set free ! 



A MESSAGE 103 



3lu0t tlfimli. It ^oix moult) guiti 

You manly heart, just think if you would 

yield 
Instead of having that dread contract sealed, 
That makes The Saviour's death upon The 

Cross, 
As far as you're concerned, a total loss! 

Since you're a man you've suffered more or 
less, 

And when you love you suffer. Now con- 
fess — 

What must He suffer? Grasp it if you can, — 

Who in His Heaven is God, and here a Man? 

You know it's right. I think you under- 
stand ; 

Oh, come at once ! Obey His calm command. 

And if you love you're tender, — Can't you 
see 

His world of tenderness for you and me? 

Your love for Him will make your heaven 

here. 
And for that other Heaven have no fear. 
He who just now is suffering for your sins 
Is He who knows full well 'tis LOVE that 

wins. 



104 A MESSAGE 



What tho' the skies were sometimes over- 
cast, 
And shadows darkly 'cross my vision passed ; 
And even now, when tried by errant will, 
This is my song: — I know He leads me still. 

Full well I know it is His loving will 

That, tho' I'm weak, His hand will lead me 

still ; 
And tho' I'm torn by briars on the way. 
His tender Love will lead me all the way* 

Come, you and I, and all the world beside, 
Why will ye tear that tender, bleeding 

side? 
The Truth that rings thro' Heaven and 

Earth is this : — 
The bliss is yours, the agony is His! 

So now I love Him wholly, not in part; 
His gracious Presence fills my mind and 

heart. 
'Tis why I speed this sunbeam on its way 
Across the path where weary sinners stray. 

And since I know this fact is doubly true, 
And glory in it, sinner, why not you? 
If of His Love you felt one single ray, 
You would not for one moment longer stray. 



A MESSAGE 105 

He leads me still, and I am well content 

To follow on and fulfill God's intent. 

Nor care I now what all the world should 

will. 
I know His tender Love must lead me still. 

Oh, listen ! Put your sin-stained hand in His, 
And follow on to Heaven's own perfect bliss. 
Don't shrink to touch that crushed and nail- 
torn Hand ! 
'Tis of His cross all you'll be asked to stand. 



2Lif t 9^t ^iQ^tt 

Gentle Jesus lift me hig-her, 
Bend me to Thy will ! 

Gentle Jesus, lift me higher. 
Lift me higher still. 

Gentle Jesus ! On the mountain 
We may grandly thrill, 

But the truer Living Fountain 
Whispers 'Teace, be still !" 

Gentle Jesus, may we ever 

Listen to its tone ! 
Gentle Jesus, may we never 

Try to walk alone. 

Gentle Jesus, gentle Jesus 

Lift me higher still! 

Gentle Jesus ! Gentle Jesus, 

Lift me higher still. 



106 A MESSAGE 



^csurrfttion 

Whom found they in the grave? 
They found not Him whose body yestereve 

had lain, 
By Roman horde irreverently rent and 

slain ! 
But Holy Angel, whom The Lord had sent. 
That by his presence added glory lent 
To Him beyond the grave. 

Think not He there abides ! 

Think not the scepter mortals wrested from 

His Hand 
Is wielded by another, and a stronger hand. 
For the whole world ^he Master came to 

save. 
And that means all within, w^ithout the 

gjave, — 
And bless them all besides. 

He rose, and lives again. 
His triumph over Death still more complete 

has grown 
Since widely o'er the Earth His truths are 

known ; 
And, from within, He sees them all absorbed 
By human hearts, that weary, heavy orbed 
Hail Him who Hves again. 



A MESSAGE lOT 



Hearn f e to Jiott 

Learn ye to love, and loving yield 
Him from above in wisdom sealed 
All that is good, and true, and pure 
In every mood. That will endure. 

Learn ye to love ! Like all things else 
Brought from above, it floods and swells 
In Hving channels all around 
When on Love's Mountain we are crowned. 

Learn ye to love ! And linger not 
Where wisdom's glove e'er is forgot ; 
Or wisdom's story is untold, 
Or folly's glory dims its gold. 

Learn ye to love all He hath lent 
And Wisdom's Head is well content. 
Learn ye to long for light to live. 
Learn ye to conquer, and forgive. 



108 A MESSAGE 



One unbolt 2Dap S)ur 'Eomorroto 

One whole day is due tomorrow, 
One day undimmed as yet 
By care and sin and sorrow, 
That memory can't forget ! 
One whole day yet in the making, 
That's youirs for the simple taking, 
A day of God's own making, — 
One whole long perfectly lovely day 
Not — touched — yet ! 

Go, make of that one tomorrow 
A thrillingly glad today 
By lifting some other one's sorrow, 
Now tempted to go astray! 
For tomorrow is yet in the making, 
And is yours by the simple taking 
As one of God's own making, — 
One whole long wonderful golden day 
Not — touched — yet ! 

This thrillingly glad tomorrow 
That you know is coming your way, 
Undimmed by the sin and sorrow 
That's reaping a harvest today. 
Is one of your own making, 
And is yours for the simple taking 
As one of God's own making, — 
This whole, long, wonderful, golden day 
Not — touched — yet ! 



A MESSAGE iqd 



I ^un0tt Hunt 

To Sunset Lane 

Runs a cheery train 
Of thoughts for young and old 

In humble hut, 

On soldier's cot, 
Or in mansion studded with gold. 

'Tis swift and sure. 

And sweet and pure, 
And it never stops in vain ; 

But leaves a store 

At every door 
That borders the Sunset Lane. 

From Sunset Lane 

Leads Twilight Lane 
To a wonderful starry height; 

Where sunset beams 

Of twilight dreams 
Hold wonderful walls of light. 

A golden crown 

Of sweet renown 
Is held on a pinnacle there, 

Reserved by right, 

By the God of Light 
For the one who placed it there. 



110 A MESSAGE 



'^6^ pottd^ ot 9?^ l^tatt 

As I'm sitting at the portals of my Heart 
I can see a train of thoughts begin to start. 
Thoughts of honor, wealth, and fame, 
Thoughts I may not give a name 
As I watch beside the portals of my Heart. 

For they start within the portals of my 

Heart, 
Are of me, and of my being form a part! 
Faithful they must ever be, 
For those thoughts that are of me 
Are the very core and substance of my 
Heart. 

And the thoughts that are for speeding set 

apart, 
And are formed within the center of my 
Heart 
Must be winding on their way, 
And they will not brook delay 
As they pass from out the portals of my 
Heart. 

Of these thoughts that pass the portals of 

my Heart 
All are winging out, and each must do its 
part;. 
For each thought that's part of me, 
If of high or low degree 
Must be speevded through the portals of my 
Heart. 



A MESSAGE 111 



S)eat5 in t^c l^amlet 

Poisoned by labor centuries old 
Haggard old woman to death is sold. 
Nothing to show for a murdered life 
Except the fate of an unloved wife ! 
Grown up daughters about her stand 
Looking askance at her withered hand ; 
To their caprices ever a prey, 
Death is more merciful than they. 
Wayward son sheds for mother a tear, — 
Withered old woman to him is dear. 
Perhaps the last reckoning shows him true, 
Whom the brunt of life put a little askew. 



^t tSr C5att 

When life is at its best 
We linger, fearful, at the final test, 
Which, when it comes then seems no test at 
all. 

And when the herald Death 

Absolves the seraph Breath 
Our vision, glorified, is lifted by the pall. 



112 A MESSAGE 



Mount Olivet must e'er remain 
Assembled sympathy for pain 
Since bore The Master on that day, 
In sorrowful Gethsemane, 
The burden never mortal bore, 
And opened wide Salvation's door. 

Mount Olivet! Thou art not dear 
To Him whose suffering drew near 
That fated hour, that fated day 
In sorrowful Gethsemane ! 
Thou canst not fathom all thou art. 
Within thy rockbound, stony heart. 

Mount Olivet! Mount Olivet! 
A tender fragrance lingers yet 
About thy brow, about thy name, 
Surmounted by The Master's fame. 
Thou canst not fathom all thou art, 
Within thy rockbound, stony heart! 

Mount Olivet! Gethsemane 

Is near The Master yet today 

Since human hearts are hard like thine, 

And wilfully His ^race decHne ! 

And can not fathom e'en a part 

Of deathless Love within His heart. 



A MESSAGE lU 



2Do0t Jfeat to ptap*^ 

Dost fear to pray? Go heed it not! 
On life's fair page 'twill leave a blot. 
I prayed in darkness, I prayed in lights 
And every pra}er was answered right. 

And every prayer if e'er so bold 

Will answered be if yet untold. 

Go, pray in darkness! The God of light 

Will hear that prayer, and answer right. 

And every joy in gladness told 
Will soar to Heaven on wings of gold. 
That, in itself, is a prayer of Might 
That God in Heaven will ai>swer right. 

Dost fear to pray? Go, heed it not! 
On Life's fair page must be no blot. 
I prayed in darkness, I prayed in light, 
And every prayer was answered right. 

And every prayer in brightness given 
Will find a readier way to Heaven 
Than prayer of darkness, if e'er so right. 
For God in Heaven doth love the light. 



114 A MESSAGE 



milit^ ot (BMltt 

In glory shine the promises of God, 

For Freedom breathe* from out the sacred 

sod 
That spread* its verdure out from sea to sea 
Among the hills and vales of Galilee. 
Let lillies grow again in Galilee ! 
Let freedom bloom anew from sea to sea ! 
And leave its fragrance with a tortured 

race 
That bears the stamp of a Redeeming 
grace. 

"Fulfilled are now the prophecies of old, 

By Holy Prophets reverently told. 

And Fr^eedom's Sun o'er Freedom's Soil 

sliall shine 
Jn Freedom's Garden, gentle Palestine! 
Let liHies grow again in Galilee ! 
Let freedom bloom anew from sea to sea, 
And leave its fragrance for a tortured 

race, 
That bears the stamp of a Redeeming 
Grace. 



A MESSAGE 115- 



^^t ttathtop at t^t €to0isi 

The teardrop at The Crocs! 

It was not shed by men 
Who, Hfting burdens from the earth again, 

Must always suffer loss! 

But by the woman who, 

In silent agony, 
Distilled its horrors, asking, "Must this be? 

Why must He suffer so?" 

The Sermon on the Mount ! 

It was not preached for those, 
Who knowing God's own perfect truth yet 
choose 

To make earth's drossness count. 

But for the ones who seek 

In tenderness the Truth, 
That thro' the ages leads the heart of youth. 

With lowly heart and meek. 

That teardrop at the Cross! 

That Sermon on the Mount! 
Are links within the perfect chain that count 

As magnets to The Cross. 

Earth's fitful tenderness, 

By earth's own sorrows roused. 
And by earth's sadness generously housed. 

Will never make them less. 



116 A MESSAGE 



^t Kone mm MnQ0 

He rode with kings upon that sacred day 
When palms were scattered broadcast o'er 

the way ; 
And stolen garments, by a jostling crowd, 
That rent the air with acclamations loud. 
He rode with kings ! The chariots de- 
scending 
With kings of Heaven, Jehovah's Son at- 
tending ! 
With earthborn sounds their own hosan- 

nah blending, 
And led the path to glory never ending. 

He rode alone upon that selfsame day, — 
His faithful followers too glad to pray ! 
They saw the diadem of Judah's King, — 
He saw the Thorn that to His brow would 
cling ! 

He rode alone! And led the path to glory. 

Each century adds lustre to the story. 

Tho' sad and lone that day, and torn and 
gory, 

He rides today with kings to untold glory. 



A MESSAGE 117 



igature'iS ^Darling 

For him there is no death ! There's a snap- 
ping of the thread, 

The eternal of the carnal taking leave when 
he is dead. 

Mind, the medium and basket, where the 
spirit joins the clay. 

Soul, the carrier and casket, bears the jewel 
far away. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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